The European Union has agreed to provide Ukraine with €90 billion ($105.5 billion) for 2026 and 2027, European Council president Antonio Costa said.

“We have a deal,” Mr Costa said in a post on social media platform X in the early hours of Friday. “Decision to provide 90 billion euros of support to Ukraine for 2026-27 approved. We committed, we delivered.”

EU leaders gathered in Brussels reached a compromise after plans to use billions of euros in frozen Russian state assets to cover Ukraine’s financing needs for the coming years failed to gain the necessary backing.

Ukraine will only have to repay the new loan once Russia has paid reparations, said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after the meeting.

Should Moscow fail to provide reparations, the frozen Russian will be used to repay the loan, Mr Merz said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged EU leaders to find a swift solution for Kyiv’s financial needs.

Without new funding, Ukraine was at risk of running a deficit of €45 billion-€50 billion next year and of having to scale back its military production, he said after an exchange with EU leaders.

(dpa/NAN)